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By Vraj Patel 

“The Hunger Free Zone” is a non-profit organization of ISKCON Baltimore with a mission to distribute prasadam to the community at large. With its own food truck, devotee volunteers go out every day, except Sunday, to distribute free vegan prasadam to the people of Baltimore City. Since its inception three years ago, the Hunger Free Zone has distributed over 167,600 free vegan meals.

Grateful recipients note that the food is delicious and shared freely with all. “I’ve partaken of t

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय पन्द्रह पुरुषोत्तम योग

निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः ।
द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञै-र्गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥ 5 ॥

निः-रहित;मान-झूठी प्रतिष्ठा;मोहाः-तथा मोह;जित-जीता गया;सङ्ग-संगति की;दोषाः-त्रुटियाँ;अध्यात्म-आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान में;नित्याः-शाश्वतता में;विनिवृत्तः-विलग;कामाः-काम से;द्वन्द्वैः-द्वैत से;विमुक्ताः-मुक्त;सुख-दुःख-सुख तथा दुख;संज्ञैः-नामक;गच्छन्ति-प्राप्त करते हैं;अमूढाः-मोहरहित;पदम्-पद,स्थान को;अव्ययम्-शाश्

Dear Devotees,
 
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
 
The Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society will begin in February 2025. Following the ISKCON GBC Society’s Rules of Order, the GBC Secretariat requests proposals, duly sponsored by two GBC members, to be submitted by December 31, 2024. Note that no proposals will be entertained after this date.
 
Please follow the format for GBC Proposals, found as a fillable PDF here:
https://gbc.iskcon.org/wp-cont

From Back to Godhead

For a long time scientists have been asking, 
What’s going on? And some of them 
have tried to find out, 
What’s behind it all?

Sir Isaac Newton once made a remarkable model of the solar system. Thanks to a clever hand-cranking mechanism, all of the tiny spinning globes orbited a small “sun.”

On entering Newton’s study, one of his colleagues, a materialist, couldn’t help noticing the model. He was flabbergasted.

“Dr. Newton,” the man stared, “who made this wonderful cont

By Nandini Devi Dasi 

As most ISKCON readers know, Saranagati Village was evacuated on the evening of July 17th, 2024. During our three-week absence, some devotees lost their homes, and others lost their wood sheds, outbuildings, storage structures, and equipment like chainsaws, the community plow, and sander.

We are not able to get insurance as we are an off-grid community, and so we have to cover the costs of cleanup and rebuilding. The government helped with our basic needs while we were eva

Bhakti Center NYC celebrated its seventh annual Diwali Festival on November 1st, attended by over 1,000 people. The popular evening event included kirtan, food stalls, dance, drama, and children’s activities like henna and face painting.

Several well-known publications, like the Gothamist, list the Bhakti Center as the number one place to celebrate Diwali in the city. Local print and television media covered the event, most notably CBS New York, which broadcast a live report from the event. You

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय चौदह प्रकृति के तीन गुण

ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च ।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च ।। 27 ।।

ब्रह्मणः- निराकार ब्रह्मज्योति का;हि- निश्चय ही;प्रतिष्ठा- आश्रय;अहम्- मैं हूँ;अमृतस्य- अमर्त्य का;अव्ययस्य- अविनाशी का;च- भी;शाश्वतस्य- शाश्वत का;च- तथा;धर्मस्य- स्वाभाविक स्थिति (स्वरूप) का;सुखस्य- सुख का;एकान्तिकस्य- चरम, अन्तिम,च- भी।

भावार्थ : और मैं ही उस निराकार ब्रह्म का आश्रय हूँ, जो अमर्त्य, अविनाशी तथा शाश्वत है और चरम सुख का स्

By Yudhisthira Dasa  

This article aims to open the door to an emotionally and spiritually healthier attitude toward our ongoing journey of self-realization. This approach stands in stark contrast to the sectarian and fear-based renunciation that many of us in the first and second generation of ISKCON have experienced, albeit generally with no detrimental intent. After all, we took birth in human bodies for a purpose, not to deny it, but to see our human experience as an opportunity to learn bet

By Ananda Tirtha Das

The Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society will begin in February 2025. Following the ISKCON GBC Society’s Rules of Order, the GBC Secretariat requests proposals, duly sponsored by two GBC members, to be submitted by December 31, 2024. Please note that no proposals will be entertained after this date.

To submit a proposal, please use the fillable .pdf here. Once completed, the proposal should be emailed here.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/gbc-releases-proposal

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय चौदह प्रकृति के तीन गुण

मां च योSव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते ।
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ।। 26 ।।

माम्- मेरी;च- भी;यः- जो व्यक्ति;अव्यभिचारेण- बिना विचलित हुए;भक्ति-योगेन- भक्ति से;सेवते- सेवा करता है;सः- वह;गुणान्- प्रकृति के गुणों को;समतीत्य- लाँघ कर;एतान्- इन सब;ब्रह्म-भूयाय- ब्रह्म पद तक ऊपर उठा हुआ;कल्पते- हो जाता है।

भावार्थ : जो समस्त परिस्थितियों में अविचलित भाव से पूर्ण भक्ति में प्रवृत्त होता है, वह तुरन्त ही प्रकृति के गुणों को

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi

ISKCON Kurukshetra, in collaboration with the Kurukshetra Development Board and Kurukshetra University, organized its second International Gita Olympiad Workshop in Kurukshetra. The event drew students from across the country, with over 100 participants and 25 dedicated volunteers contributing to its success.

Mohan Gaurchandra Das, Director of the International Gita Olympiad, said, “The Gita Olympiad Workshop emerged from a vision to create an academic and expe

Contrary to some erroneous reports in Indian media, ISKCON of Houston plans to hold its Festival of Bliss on Saturday, November 9th. The following is a statement from Saranga Thakur Dasa, President, ISKCON of Houston:

“ISKCON Houston To Adapt Its Festival for 2024

In the spirit of cooperation, ISKCON Houston is voluntarily adapting its Festival of Bliss plans for 2024, by featuring the Deities of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu, who famously brought the cha

In this video, HH Bhaktimarga Swami discusses the importance of devotional service, as explained in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, specifically SB 7.11.8-12. The verses delve into qualities essential for spiritual growth and human advancement, such as truthfulness, compassion, cleanliness, tolerance, control of mind and senses, and simplicity. HH Bhaktimarga Swami emphasizes that these are universal values applicable to everyone, regardless of their societal role.

He elaborates on the concept of varṇāś

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय चौदह प्रकृति के तीन गुण

सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः ।
तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रदः पिता ।। 4 ॥

सर्व-योनिषु- समस्त योनियों में;कौन्तेय- हे कुन्तीपुत्र;मूर्तयः- स्वरूप;सम्भवन्ति- प्रकट होते हैं;याः- जो;तासाम्- उन सबों का;ब्रह्म- परम;महत् योनिः- जन्म स्त्रोत;अहम्- मैं;बीज-प्रदः- बीजप्रदाता;पिता- पिता।

भावार्थ : हे कुन्तीपुत्र! तुम यह समझ लो कि समस्त प्रकार की जीव-योनियाँ इस भौतिक प्रकृति में जन्म द्वारा सम्भव हैं और मैं उनका बीज-प्रदाता

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय बारह भक्तियोग

अभ्यासेSप्यसमर्थोSसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव ।

मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि ।। 10 ॥

अभ्यासे- अभ्यास में;अपि- भी;असमर्थः- असमर्थ;असि- हो;मत्-कर्म- मेरे कर्म के प्रति;परमः- परायण;भव- बनो;मत्-अर्थम्- मेरे लिए;अपि- भी;कर्माणि- कर्म ;कुर्वन्- करते हुए;सिद्धिम्- सिद्धि को;अवाप्स्यसि- प्राप्त करोगे।

भावार्थ : यदि तुम भक्तियोग के विधि-विधानों का भी अभ्यास नहीं कर सकते, तो मेरे लिए कर्म करने का प्रयत्न करो, क्योंकि मेरे लिए कर्म करने से तुम पू

By Chaitanya Arya

On November 2, 2024, more than 1,200 devotees from remote villages in the Satpura hill range came together to celebrate the auspicious Giriraj Govardhan Puja Mahotsav. The event, led by Nitaipad Das and Markatshyam Das, with the cooperation of Upanand Das, Jayant, Gopal, Vasant, and Chaitanya, took place in a tribal region along the South Gujarat-North Maharashtra border. This large gathering of tribal devotees signifies a growing movement to revive Krishna Consciousness in com